{"id":48426,"date":"2023-09-05T11:36:41","date_gmt":"2023-09-05T10:36:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/?p=48426"},"modified":"2023-09-07T11:59:20","modified_gmt":"2023-09-07T10:59:20","slug":"september-msp-growth-habit-practice-active-listening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/blog\/september-msp-growth-habit-practice-active-listening","title":{"rendered":"September MSP Growth Habit: Practice Active Listening"},"content":{"rendered":"

I wasn\u2019t a born salesperson. Frankly, the notion of sales frightens me. When I first started at N‑able in 2004, I was hired as a Partner Development Specialist (PDS). This was a post-sales Account Management-style role where I was tasked to help our partners with the design and implementation of their managed services programs. There was zero sales experience required\u2014it was all customer-support centric, which I loved and excelled at.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Fast forward to the summer of 2011. I was just about to head out on vacation, when I was told by my manager at the time that my PDS role was being transitioned into a Channel Sales Specialist role and when I returned to work, I was going to have sales targets and quotas that I would need to meet. My heart stopped when I was given this news. I remember saying to my manager, \u201cBut I\u2019m not a salesperson.\u201d And he basically replied back, \u201cWell you are now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

So as I was journeying into this new frontier of sales, I started reading and educating myself on how to be a good salesperson, because even though I\u2019ve never held a sales quota before, there was no way I was going to fail at this new position I was being moved into. Fortunately, I had a very kind sales manager who mentored me, and he gave me a piece of advice that has stuck with me to this day, and that was: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSpend time actively listening to your partners, not to respond right away but to hear what they are actually saying. If you talk less and listen more, the sales will come.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

What is Active Listening and What\u2019s its Goal?<\/span><\/h2>\n

So what do we mean by the term \u2018actively listening\u2019 and what can you do to sharpen your active listening skills to help drive more closed deals for your MSP business? <\/span><\/p>\n

According to LinkedIn<\/span><\/a>, active listening is: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026<\/span>a key skill for building trust, rapport, and understanding with your clients, prospects, and colleagues. It involves paying attention, showing interest, and responding appropriately to what the other person is saying.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The goal of active listening is to obtain the information you need so that you can understand your prospects and their situations <\/span>before<\/span> responding to them. <\/span>And the LinkedIn article goes on to outline the key benefits that can be achieved by refining your active listening sales skills: <\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. It can help you establish credibility and authority, and help you to build rapport, by demonstrating that you are knowledgeable and informed about your prospect\u2019s current situation <\/span><\/li>\n
  2. It can help to reveal the true needs, challenges, and requirements of your prospects. This will allow you to make better decisions and propose more effective services to address their concerns<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. It can help you avoid making assumptions or jumping to conclusions, and can help you avoid any misunderstandings and conflicts, by clarifying and confirming what the prospect is saying<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. It can help increase productivity and improve the velocity at which the prospect moves through your sales funnel. This is because when you are actively listening, you retain more information, which allows you to complete follow-up tasks accurately and completely <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    So what techniques can you employ that can help you to improve your active listening skills, if you feel this is an area that can use some work? <\/span><\/p>\n

    5 Ways to Improve Your Active Listening Skills to Help Close More Deals Faster<\/span><\/h2>\n

    1. <\/span>Do your research and be prepared<\/span><\/h3>\n

    Before the meeting, ensure you take the time to research the prospect to learn what you can about their industry, their business, and the role they play within the company. Outline the questions you have that you require answers to and document what your goals and objectives are for the meeting.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

    2. <\/span>Use open-ended questions<\/span><\/h3>\n

    This encourages your prospects to elaborate and share information and their impressions about their present situation. So, avoid questions that would solicit a \u2018yes\u2019 or \u2018no\u2019 response from your prospects, instead ask questions that start with, things like: \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n